Only went to the Diamond twice. Each time we went, there was hardly anybody in there. It seemed to play pictures there that no one was interested in seeing, all the popular films showed at the Laurel, Fruitvale and Fairfax. We used to go to Junes Lone Star for hamburgers and shakes, then to a movie afterwards. Everytime we looked at the paper to decide where to go, we always skipped the Diamond because it was also just too expensive to get inside. No one seemed to miss it when it closed. I went to Cannucks on the corner to get a magnavox record player, and they were remodeling the diamond for the new Lucky supermarket. The side door was open so I walked inside to peek and looked up and all I remember seeing were steel girders, then this man came to me and asked me to leave. It didn’t look like anything was saved in there.

I have an October 31, 1931 Souvenier Program from a theatre opening in Merced CA which lists the Dimond Theatre as being part of the Golden State Theatre Corporation’s chain at that time. The program lists M. Rosenberg as being the manager of the Dimond.

I have since gone into Crazy John’s myself to see if anything was left of the Dimond interior, and indeed, gsmurph is correct. There is nothing to see save steel roof trusses and the wood underside of the roof surface.

In answer to a question asked by Gary Parks a long while ago, I recall that shortly after Smart & Final had opened in the former Rivoli in Berkeley, Lucky’s (the occupier of the former Dimond at the time) did a sizable renovation of its store which involved opening up its ceiling dirung construction. I visited the store during that renovation and looked up at the opened-up ceiling hoping to find some hidden artifacts (if you will). Unfortunately I spotted not an inch of one; I suspect that unlike the Rivoli, which never had a really big market chain comparable to Lucky or Safeway (or “LuckSafe” as aficionados of the late lamented Co-Op often dubbed the two) in it at any time as a supermarket (and perhaps that market could only afford to gut what little they “absolutely HAD to”), the Dimond had the misfortune to be taken over by a major supermarket and hence, was gutted completely to accomodate Lucky’s “needs.”

The building is still around. It was a Lucky’s and then albertson’s. A new natural food grocery store called farmer joe’s is going in by the summer of 2005. I have some images of the theatre in both day and night visions. I will put them up as soon as the site allows me to.